It was a spectacle. The Targum Neophyti on Exodus 20:1 describes it as shooting stars, lightning, and fiery torches all rolled into one. Can you picture that? A blazing, celestial phenomenon erupting from the Divine.
This wasn't just any light show. It was a word taking flight, soaring through the heavens with incredible speed. It flew, it wheeled, and then… it returned.
And what did the people do? They were terrified. Understandably so! Imagine witnessing something so… otherworldly.
But the journey wasn't over. This fiery word, this divine spark, didn't just vanish. Instead, it hovered over the camps of Israel, a powerful presence watching over them. And then, in its final act, it descended and became engraved on the tablets of the covenant. All of Israel saw it.
Then, a voice boomed out: "I Yahweh am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage" (Exod. 20:2).
But it didn't stop there. According to the tradition, each and every subsequent word, each of the Ten Commandments, was given in the same awe-inspiring way. Shooting stars, fiery torches, winging swiftly through the air…each one a cosmic event.
This elaborate description, this incredible imagery, really underscores the sheer importance of the Ten Commandments. It emphasizes the world-shaking nature of the event. This wasn't just a set of rules being handed down. It was a moment that redefined the relationship between God and the Israelites, between the Divine and humanity. It was a moment, as the Targum Neophyti implies, that forever changed the cosmos.